Replaces Guy Pearce in Whitey Bulger film
After scheduling issues with Pearce, Cumberbatch is tapped to take on the role of Billy Bulger, Whitey Bulger’s brother and Massachusett’s State Senator. The project is based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob written by Boston Blobe reporters Dick Lerh and Gerard O’Neill. This movie has been in the works since 2004 and will feature Johnny Depp in the leading role of the ruthless gangster.
Will star in ‘Yellow Birds’
The actor will star in the Iraq war-drama Yellow Birds, based on the 2012 National Book Award finalist by Kevin Powers. Cumberbatch will play an Army sergeant that takes two young soldiers under his wing. The book, based on Powers’ personal experiences in the Iraq War, has been called “the All Quiet on the Western Front for America’s Arab wars” by Tom Wolfe.